Where should I apply? Most likely computer science/engineering major, Indian female from California

College Search & Selection
1

I’m currently a junior. Please advise me on where to apply!

Thinking of applying to:
-UC’s (Berkeley is top choice, LA, Davis, SD)
-Ivies (Cornell is top choice, Columbia)
-UT Austin
-Georgia Tech
-Carnegie Mellon
-UIUC
-Purdue
-Boston University
-USC
-Stony Brook
-UT Dallas

Schools I am unsure of my chances (Should I apply?):

  • MIT
  • Caltech
  • Stanford

Schools I will most likely get into:

  • CSU’s
  • lower UC’s

I go to a very competitive public high school.
ACT: 34 single-sitting, 35 Composite
SAT II: Math II: 780, Physics: 780
GPA: 3.72 UW, 4.28 W
UC GPA: 3.92

Weighted Classes:
Soph: Honors Physics, AP Euro, Honors Pre-calc
Junior: AP Physics, AP Lit, APUSH, AP Computer Science, AP Psych, AP Calc AB
Senior (will be taking): AP Chem, AP Lang, AP Gov, AP Econ, AP Music Theory, AP Calc BC

AP Tests:
Euro: 3
Aiming for all 5’s on my AP Tests this year.
Might self study a couple APs over the summer

ECs:

  1. Piano (9-present, will continue to 12): Completing all 10 levels of Certificate of Merit Evaluation Exam, received branch honors and qualified for musical convention recital in level 7, 8 and 9, receiving senior award next year (completing 3 levels in HS)
  2. Intern on courses team at a non-profit that teaches kids how to code (10 summer): created an online Java course
  3. Courses Team leader at non-profit (from above) (11 fall): led a team and developed a Linux course
  4. Developers Team leader (from above) (January-present): leading a team that manages the website, coded it from scratch in PHP and JS
  5. Vice President of non-profit (from above) (Jan-present): helps manage the organization and website and communicates with president and interns
  6. Likely PSAT commendation award
  7. CSF (9-present, will continue to 12): Active member of CSF (California Scholarship Federation) for all of high school (10 hours/semester)
  8. Internship at Knodemy (11 summer): will be interning this summer, it has been confirmed
  9. Started a website that helps high school students with their academic needs/test prep (11-present)
  10. Applied for an apprenticeship program with the Department of Defense (research on cybersecurity) (11 Summer): hoping I’ll get in
  11. School Honor Roll (all years, so far)
  12. Will likely be a National AP Scholar with Distinction
  13. PVSA Award (Gold medal)
  14. CSF 100% Member (highest honor)

Hooks: N/A
Ethnicity: Asian Indian
Income: 100,000+

Letter of Recs: 8-9/10 (i have good relations with my teachers)
Essay- 9/10 (i’m a good writer)

Thank you so much!
Please let me know if I can do anything to increase my chances of getting in!

2

Your list includes a number of STEM-oriented schools in the Northeast (Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, Stony Brook). People who apply to those schools often apply to Lehigh as well. Lehigh is generally less selective than Cornell or CMU, but more selective than BU or Stony Brook.

Lehigh is a relatively small university with a focus on undergraduates. It is less well known on the West Coast than the larger research universities. However, Lehigh has been drawing more Californian students lately (most likely seeking alternatives to the crowded UC/CSU systems), and they have started ramping up their recruitment efforts on the West Coast.

http://www1.lehigh.edu/news/provost-announces-launch-western-regional-office

Lehigh is noted for business and finance as well as STEM, and there is an unusual degree of interdisciplinary cooperation between the engineering and business schools. For example, Lehigh’s “Computer Science & Business” degree is (as far as I know) the only bachelor’s degree in the US that has full accreditation as both a CS degree (by ABET) and as a business degree (by AACSB).

3

Thank you for presenting me with this information! I will look into this!!

4

Did you calculate your UC GPA correctly? It seems to be too low compare to your total GPA. If this is a correct UC GPA you will have problems getting into most UCs.

5

@Ballerina016 Rogerhub says it’ll be 3.92 by the end of the semester (I think W capped), my school says it’ll be 5.33 W uncapped if I get all A’s this semester (which I currently have). It’s currently 4.12 W capped according to my transcript. I’m kinda confused lol

6

I’d recommend looking into Harvey Mudd, Olin College of Engineering and possibly women’s colleges with good CS/engineering such as Smith.

7

@bouders yes, I heard Harvey Mudd is a great school!!

8

@Ballerina016, correction to my reply: it’ll be 4.31 weighted uncapped by the end of the semester. It’s currently 4.12 weighted UNcapped

9

This makes more sense than. You might want to add Santa Clara University to your list. With you stats you might be a good candidate for their full ride scholarship. Also look into UCI. Cornell has a good engineering program. Harvey Mudd is an excellent school if you want LAC. Lean more about Caltech CS program before applying.

10

@Ballerina016 Do you think I have a good chance of getting into Harvey Mudd or Cornell?

11

To be honest, I don’t see much point in applying to Cornell, Caltech, MIT, Carnige Mellon, Columbia or UC Berkeley but you do have a good shot at rest of the list.

Have you asked your parents about their ability to pay your expenses? Some of these schools are very expensive.

12

@“Yalie 2011” Why do you think there is no point in applying to UC Berkeley?
Last year, UC Berkeley accepted 77/235 kids from my school (~33%). On Naviance, it shows that I have a pretty good chance of being accepted.

Naviance also shows that I have a good chance of getting into CMU.

Yes, they said they’ll be able to pay.

13

Three Much Different Options

Consider URochester for engineering plus breadth of curriculum.

Look into RPI for a concentrated engineering curriculum.

Union College would offer a safe admit in an undergraduate-focused environment.

Though different schools in character, each, to varying degrees, would be likely to award you with a merit scholarship.

Good luck!

14

@merc81 Naviance says I’m basically guaranteed to get into all 3 of those, but I want to go to better universities. Thanks though!

15

Actually, those schools (#12) tend to be more selective than many of those in which you have already expressed interest (e.g., by some measures, RPI can be more selective than UC-Berkeley and USC, URochester more so than UCLA, and Union more so than Boston University). By your implied standards of “better” (#13), you may want to revise your list in general:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-50-smartest-colleges-in-america-2016-10

And RPI, the country’s oldest technological research university, does appear here:

http://college.usatoday.com/2016/11/18/top-engineering-colleges/

16

@merc81 But I care more about the ranking of a college’s computer science program than the selectiveness of the college itself.

17

@calijunior : OK, but no reliable publication of which I am aware actually ranks undergraduate computer science programs.

18

@merc81 http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

19

You are Asian and want CS major so that’s double whammy. I was wrong about Berkeley but CM is out of reach in my opinion. What’s your class rank?

20

Yes, those rankings were created with respect to the PhD programs at those universities. They were not designed to evaluate the instructional environments of undergraduate programs.

For example, an introductory undergraduate computer science class can enroll over 1000 students at some schools, or be capped at, say, 26 at others. Factors such as this have not been considering in any capacity by the source you referenced (#17).